Tuesday, October 7, 2008

What Rough Beast... (EXTREMELY Important Second Update, 10/8)

Beginning immediately after 9-11, George W. Bush and the cabal he represents began the controlled implosion of the hollowed-out shell of our once-sturdy republic. Last week the final phase of that demolition project got underway.

By using monetary inflation as a sapping device, the FED is knocking down the few federalist pillars that, at least in theory, separated the various layers of government. It is also preparing to nationalize key segments of the commercial economy. All of this is being done through the FED's New Deal era "emergency powers" to extend "credit" to any entity it chooses, whether governmental, commercial, or "public-private partnership."

The "Lenin" of America's October Revolution:Chief Fed Commissar Ben Bernanke

The revolution of 1913-1933, which inflicted the Federal Reserve, income tax, and the New Deal apparatus upon the United States, left us with a system Mussolini described as a "corporate state," more commonly known as Fascism.

Admittedly, the American version was milder than most, at least domestically. The Revolution of 2008 is consolidating the elements of that system into a monolithic, unitary State of the sort Lenin and his heirs would applaud, were they not busy suffering for eternity in hell.

The creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 was a partial enactment of the fifth plank of the Communist Manifesto, which called for creation of "a national bank with State capital"; last week, with the creation of a de facto economic dictatorship under the Secretary of the Treasury, Congress implemented the other key element of that plank, "centralization of credit in the hands of the state."

Approval of the new economic dictatorship was the irreducible purpose of the so-called Economic Stabilization Act, which -- true to the measure's pedigree of grandly named government interventions -- has summarily failed to stabilize the economy.

The $700 billion disbursed by the bill was a trifle, in light of the magnitude of the debt flood to be "bailed out" and the ability of the FED to create what it's pleased to call "money" in any amount it chooses. But that relatively trivial amount was enough to create a constituency for the bill not only on Wall Street, but also in statehouses, city halls, and wherever else the Horseleach's Daughters convene.

"Yes, we can!" Hey, guess what? Before Stalin became one of history's most prolific mass-murderers, he was a "community organizer," too! Here he helps mobilize support for the little exercise in idealism called the Bolshevik Revolution.

With both the corporatist and political elements of the parasite class enlisted to support the revolution, all that remained was the neutralize the productive class -- the common people, who found ourselves on the bad end of what the reliably perceptive Chris Floyd calls "one of the largest single redistributions of wealth since the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in 1917."

Unanimity is, almost without exception, a bad thing in politics. The near-unanimity of the electorate in rejecting the Wall Street "bailout" measure is one of those incalculably precious exceptions. In the teeth of this near-unanimity, Congress -- led by the Senate, supposedly the more deliberative chamber -- took the rejected bill, an austere 3-page Enabling Act for the economic dictatorship, plumped it up with several hundred pages of bureaucratic boilerplate and undisguised pork, and passed it four days later.

Bribing a Congressman is generally about as challenging as seducing Catherine the Great. Getting the institution to surrender its institutional control over the public purse was a bit more difficult. Some Congressmen -- well, at least one, perhaps two or three others -- recalled their duty to their constituents, as well as their constitutional mandate to control the public purse, and held fast. Many others opposed the Enabling Act/Plutocrat Bailout because of simple terror over the prospect of immediate unemployment.

But in this case, bribery was coupled with undisguised official terrorism -- the use or threatened use of violence to achieve a radical change in the political system.

As Brad Sherman, a Democratic Congressman from California, testified in a remarkable address on the House Floor -- an address the likes of which will soon be punishable as sedition -- that representatives of the Regime candidly informed recalcitrant congressmen that refusal to pass the Enabling Act would result in nothing less than "martial law in America."

Subsequently, many people, including Rep. Sherman himself, sought to minimize the significance of those threats, describing them as manipulative hyperbole rather than a credible threat. This would be something on the order of a frantic lobbyist exclaiming that failure of the bailout would lead to real "Wrath of God-type stuff" -- the stock market collapsing, permanent constipation of the credit markets, shortages, troops on the streets, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

The jolly jokesters representing the White House and the Bankster Elite were just exaggerating for effect, you see.

There is no way we can honestly construe the comments reported by Rep. Sherman as anything other than a legitimate, credible threat to accomplish, through a coup de main, what Congress was being ordered to do: Surrender its power over the purse to an executive branch department that is an appendage of Wall Street.

This time, the mere threat of direct military action was sufficient. Next time, we may see putsch come to shove. But the real problem is this: The willingness of congressional majorities to be complicit in this betrayal most likely means there won't be a "next time" -- another occasion in which public outrage, coupled with the threat of quick voter retaliation, prompts Congress to act in the public good.

Go ahead and vote this November, if you can find national candidates unsullied by this consummate betrayal. But a higher priority should be to anticipate, and prepare for, the severe dislocations that are about to occur in our everyday life as the collapse accelerates and deepens.

As credit lines grow more constricted, shortages of gasoline and grocery items become more likely. Fill your pantry with non-perishable foods that don't require much preparation. Secure an adequate supply of drinking water. Network with informed family and like-minded friends and, if possible, keep an inventory of emergency supplies. If you can build a small fellowship of that kind, it's a good idea to have a designated meeting place to gather and pool resources in the event of a severe emergency. Toward that end it's also a good idea to keep your gas tank topped off, or nearly so, if this is economically feasible.

For that reason, it's wise to keep a supply of tangible money. Yes, of course, that means silver -- particularly pre-1964 "junk" coins -- and gold. It also means keeping a supply of ready cash on hand in the form of the depreciating but still useable FRNs.* In the event of a "bank holiday," you won't be permitted to withdraw cash, and it's likely that debit cards wouldn't work. So keeping sufficient cash on hand for a month's expenses is a wise precaution.

It is my fondest hope that the advice offered in the foregoing paragraphs will prove to be the product of unwarranted alarmism.

I experienced exactly the same sentiment last March when I first suggested that "panic" of that variety was a perfectly rational course of action; I had the same desperate eagerness to be wrong last March 7, when -- citing analyses offered by much better minds than my own -- I predicted on Dr. Stan Montieth's radio program that the long-anticipated financial collapse would begin in late September or early October.

Maybe I'm entirely wrong now. May God grant that it be so. But don't count on it.

"Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to restore confidence in the financial system."

The plan being discussed in the Olympian realm of the Power Elite is reportedly similar to the ongoing nationalization of Great Britain's banking system. At the same time, notes the New York Times, "investors are clamoring for the Fed to lower interest rates to nearly zero. Some are also calling for governments worldwide to provide another round of economic stimulus through expensive public works projects."

Predictability offers some comfort, I suppose, in these turbid and troubling times, which is why there's something winsome and reassuring in the knowledge that people will still seek "solutions" from Keynes's syllabus of economic errors. Perhaps the "public works" in question would be, as Keynes suggested, hiring one body of men to dig holes, and another to fill them. Or our rulers might combine the expense and futility of that exercise with massive death, terror, and destruction and simply arrange a ripping good war, the public works project for which government has displayed a singular aptitude.

Indeed, as the Times points out in words that chill any perceptive person to the marrow, we've already reached the phase at which those who presume to manage our destinies are talking about the "moral equivalent" of war:

"Fed officials increasingly talk about the challenge they face with a phrase that President Bush used in another context: `regime change.' This regime change refers to a change in the economic environment so radical that, at least for a while, economic policy makers will need to suspend what are usually sacred principles: minimal interference in free markets, gradualism and predictability."

Reverse-engineering the FED's intention from that report, it's clear that we're in for maximal interference in, or abolition of, free markets, accomplished suddenly by people who exercise power capriciously.

In other words -- an October Revolution brought to us by the Banksters without their Bolshevik middle-men.

38 comments:

I read your blog with great attention. Wish I could dispute some of your predictions--expecially what you write today--but I can't. I'm going to follow some of your recommendations on stocking up on essentials, etc. Thanks.

Mr. Grigg, what do you make of the argument that The Federal Government was already informally responsible for the entities which it is now nationalizing, and so the formal process of nationalizing them is only updating the accounting sheets to reflect what was already the case for years?

It can be a bit discouraging when you pay for and arrange a "JBS Freedom Campaign" Meet-Up to fight against this tyranny & everybody cancels out or simply doesn't show up. Oh well; there's still the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty & other opportunities to fight back & to try to protect the future of my grandkids. Folks: don't give up & quit.

Unanimity is, almost without exception, a bad thing in politics. The near-unanimity of the electorate in rejecting the Wall Street "bailout" measure is one of those incalculably precious exceptions.

Agreed, except the problem with the "near-unanimity" of the electorate was that it was for all the wrong reasons. The vast majority of the stupified electorate only opposed this graft and wealth redistribution because it was for greedy richies on Wall Street. If it had been earmarked for greedy commoners, there'd have been hardly a whisper.

Principle is a foreign concept and has been for decades in the political arena. Ergo, I assert that the ONLY congress critter, of the few who happened to oppose this mammoth theft, that voted purely on principle, not FUD, was Ron Paul.

The problem, again, is the people at large, the society, the humanoids who inhabit this plot of land called America.

Why would someone who is living on the edge as it is even contemplate buying (actually renting) a home that they cannot afford, with an A.R.M. full of debt?? G-r-e-e-d and s-t-a-t-u-s and....a loathsome desire to keep pace with the Jones. Yes, of course lenders were pulling every kind of deceptive tactic to get folk to bite off more than they could chew, but if people would THINK about it for a moment, they could see through the antics and refuse to indulge.

Yes, the masterminds of evil deeds will get their just due (everybody harps on that endlessly...yawn!), but so will the commoner who falls for these "huge gains for very little, or no pain" deceptions also get their just due when all is said and done. Otherwise, Hell would only ever have one resident, the ultimate evil mastermind, Satan himself.

Anyway, on another front, why would anyone buy daily consumables (i.e. gas, food, heating oil, clothes) on credit?? It's bad enough that folk go into debt in order to obtain durable goods, but consumables?? This living on debt has been going on for decades. I remember working at a gas station for a few months just after exiting the military in 1990 and many, if not most, of the customers used credit cards for buying gas, as I recall. What were they "saving" their "tangible" cash for? Or perhaps, they had consumed their cash already and resorted to credit cards?

sigh...

I do not understand how folk THINK, or even IF they THINK, about the future beyond the next day. How will my actions today affect me or my family a decade from now...?

Anyway, I agree completely with your "self-provisioning" section near the end. But, in addition to those actions we can pray that Jesus will see us through it. After all, we can be comforted and accompanied by Him as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, not around it (Ps.23:4).

Dixiedog, you make an excellent point, that the real uproar from the sheeple was not due to the "money" being spent, but rather, on whom.

In the end analysis, the electorate did reject those who put them in positions of power, totally rejecting the clear voice bellowing from bowels of the U.S., that voice being a solid "NO" to the bailout welfare bill for Wall Street.

This is the second major rejection that comes to my mind in recent history-the first being the 2006 election of Democrats, who were sent on a mission to stop Bush the Lesser. They not only failed that mission, but acquiescence to Bush and behaved as whipped dogs that were powerless to even lift their leg.

The Electorate has ceased to perform under the terms of their contract with the American public. Not only have they not performed, but they have violated the boundaries under which they were expected to operate within; i.e., the Constitution. Having clearly performed their job with neglect at a minimum, but with mostly wanton destruction of God given liberties, it is time to cancel, with extreme prejudice, the contract. Their time is up. The gig is over. The curtain is closing. Those who refuse to leave will be quickly, quietly and effectively shown the door.

I have had tens of thousands of dollars stolen from me (Social Security) since age 16 by a band of thoughtless thugs who do not care one iota for me, no, they look upon me with disdain. They took that money and said “we will hold it for you – so you can retire”. Then they robbed the fund blind.

I have had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from me through taxation and inflation. All of this comes via the end of the barrel of a gun, financing endless billions and trillions of dollars to kill people I never met nor heard of, in countries I have never seen, so as to keep me “safe”.

They steal to enrich the corporate machinery through the orchestrated “financial collapse” via a stock market crash and through endless taxation and inflation for corporate bailouts.

In a few years when I am old and looking towards a little rest, when I go to my overlords to ask them for the benefits that I have paid for over the years, and then I am told that the cupboard is bare and I should get back to work, do you think I am going to be a little ungrateful? Do you think that I might resent my overlord’s attitude towards all of this? Do you think I might just start making a list of people to visit to “discuss” this problem? Overlords, be prepared.

Our world is spinning out of control. So much is happening behind the scenes that the media is not talking about. It is really scary.

The world economy is disintegrating before our eyes. As I explained in another letter, it is all an illusion due to the conditioning of our minds over centuries to equate money and wealth. They USED to be equivalent, when money was made of rare metals, but since 1913 money has by stages become a purely imaginary thing divorced from any connection to wealth.

I honestly do not know if this was a plot - if it was, the instigators would have to be so powerful, so brilliant, so evil, and so far hidden in the background that nobody knows who they are or suspects that it is a plot. I certainly do not know that and cannot say so.

Here is the worst case scenario, which, let us pray, probably will not happen, but could.

Obama is elected. There remain 76 days before Obama takes office. In that time, the world economy finally collapses, all banks are shut down temporarily pending a resolution of their financial positions and the delivery to them of literal truckloads of paper money to satisfy those who want to take out their deposits. Credit cards are suspended.

Depending how long this process takes (and if it IS a plot, it would be certain to take too long) there will begin to be food riots, gas riots, and looting of stores by people with no money, but who have guns or pitchforks or whatever they can lay their hands on.

Martial law is announced, the Constitution is suspended and the President declares that a Committee will rule by decree. The terrified Congress, defended by a cordon of tanks and guns from enraged mobs of hundreds of thousands rampaging through Washington, decides that Obama cannot be allowed to attempt "on-the-job-training" and civil order must be restored, and passes all power to the Presidential Committee of the POTUS, VP, and the Joint Chiefs. Obama's inauguration and the reinstatement of the Constitution, while not cancelled, must be postponed until things settle down. In other words, indefinitely.

Perhaps, just perhaps, what we are now seeing is the famous "October Surprise" in a form nobody expected.

And there is more - given that the whole world is awash in dollars, and this is the reason the economic collapse is spreading everywhere, now is the perfect time for the US government to declare that everyone must work together to avert mass starvation, a breakdown of civilization, and a new Dark Age, and therefore a World Government with the power to dictate to national governments and settle or discharge debts must be established immediately.

Anonymous, there was a report (hastily denied, of course) that China's banks had been ordered to stop lending to US banks --

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSPEK16693720080925

Beijing and Moscow were prime beneficiaries of the Fannie/Freddie bailout. So we already know that Washington has made it a priority to pay off foreign bondholders, using as much taxpayer wealth (either confiscated through taxes or plundered through inflation) as necessary to do so.

I'm not savvy enough to explain the significance of today's coordinated rate cut, but I'll check with someone who is and let you know what I find out.

I'll also voice consenting agreement to Dixie Dog's opinion that it isn't the amount being spent, but rather where.

I guess my dad raised me to save and pay as I go. The only debt I have is a mortgage everything else is paid for in cash or not purchased. Debt is the ultimate slaver in my opinion.

The days ahead could well be dark indeed. I think rural areas may fare better than the cities though, couldn't imagine being caught in one of those concrete jungles in times like these.

It also occurs to me that should the worst happen, lead may be more valuable than gold (except in my case arrows will be a close second and broadheads go through kevlar like butter - sans trauma plates of course). Better decide now - are you willing to put the cross hairs on a a cop or a bureaucrat; better make that choice before you have to. I doubt the ninja clad class will give you much time to contemplate the issue when the time comes.

Most of the people I know who opposed the bailout, and that's most of the people I know, did so because they understand that it's fundamentally wrong for governments to bail out businesses. They did not oppose it simply because the plan would bail out unctuous rich bankers.

Most of the people I know who opposed the bailout, and that's most of the people I know, did so because they understand that it's fundamentally wrong for governments to bail out businesses. They did not oppose it simply because the plan would bail out unctuous rich bankers.

The perhaps elusive point, however, is that it is wrong for government to "bail out," "subsidize," "ANYONE - be they old people ("legal" narcotics, medical care, etc.), young people (student loans), businesses (farms, banks, corps, mom & pops, etc.), filthy rich individuals, dirt poor individuals, or anything in between! Yet, I say the electorate would not have minded $700 billion from the trough one damn bit.

Greed encompasses the entire socio-economic strata. There is much greed amongst the rich, poor, and middle-class (although this segment is now essentially extinct).

How do you think the people in question become "unctuous rich bankers" in the first place? Because they run businesses in the form of banks. Now, whether you and the flock of folk with whom you associate view "richies on Wall Street" and their attendant banks "businesses" or not is immaterial and irrelevant.

The people (average joes and janes) wouldn't have riled themselves up into a frenzy and lit up the Capitol switchboards in a "rage against the [Washing---] machine" if $700 billion was to be doled out to the masses.

Are the wipers working now?

And speaking of a clear view, the big picture is much clearer now in my mind that this ongoing crisis is the tipping point, finally, where Amerika crashes and burns economically, and by extension socially, after free falling from atop the hill.

The new king of the mountain will then be the European Union since it will not be as damaged by the now worldwide economic woes as is Amerika. The NAU can now be consummated once and for all for sure due to this crisis as the people's opposition crumbles as will the notable erstwhile resistance to ceding all remaining power from the member states to the EU Leviathan in Brussels.

The much vaunted New World Order may finally be clearly seen in the distance as we approach at blazing speed.

Economic hardship, above everything else, is what inevitably makes the elites' desired agendas (everywhere) more palpable to the commoners and masses of their respective countries. The commoners' initial resistance crumbles and they fold their tent, sadly.

Oh, and let's not forget about Asia and Africa being part of the unification party. Hee-haw! Yes, indeed, we'll see an Asian Union and African Union finally consummated eventually as well. Although the Asian Union may have to come about by stages (i.e. South Asian Union, Central Asian Union, and so on), but the point is that there will be an Asian Union.

World government brought to fruition rather quickly by worldwide economic hardship.

The once great “shining city on a hill” is gasping for breath. Everywhere you turn you are faced with the harsh truth that the death rattle has begun. We are a dying people controlled by a dying government, infected with the dead leadership of dead men, who chew on a dead gospel served-up in dead churches, by dead pastors living out a dead faith.

Will, great post as always. I am glad you are stressing food, water, guns/ammo, gasoline and getting with neighbors, and, of course, praying to Jesus. May I make another suggestion for those who have the financial means to do so: take that money in the bank and buy land, preferably land with water under it, take some of the rest of the money and have a well dug, and take a bit more and buy one of those cabin kits and build a "redoubt" so to speak...or buy a used decent trailer, or a used RV.

What with the October 1 army relocation to US cities already taking place (but don't know what cities), THIS IS THE TIME TO GET OUT OF THE CITIES/SUBURBS! Head for the hills!

It's time for another war run by that strategic mba silverspoon genius. After all war is the only way to distract from a third world, serve-ice economy. Just read some articles where Moscow is calling for an anti-US alliance. Regime change always comes from without especially when the citizenry is a spineless bunch of comfort whores. Speaking of Germans let's ask them about taking on the world on how it works out in the end.

Keeping up with the Jones' is spending money you don't have on things you don't need to impress people you can't stand. A phony, fake, poseur farce like the rest of this third world apostate hypocrisy. Shining city on the hill my left ass cheek.

dixiedog, the elusive point is certainly not lost on me, although I can't say the same for most of my friends and acquaintances. I was just chiming in with my two cents regarding my discussions with people about the banker "bailout" since many here are of the opinion that most opposed it for reasons of class. That was not my experience, although it may be true of the population in general.I certainly am not in need of wipers and I share your beliefs about the New World Order; I have been doing my part to sound the alarm for the better part of two decades.

Will, I read you back in your New American magazine days, have your "Freedom On The Altar" video, and was delighted to re-discover you on LewRockwell.com last year.

Your perspective is much appreciated, and you are a wordsmith & logician of first rank.

We almost moved to Idaho (Moscow area), but the LORD showed us East Texas as a viable alternative.

Our 5 children are homeschooled by us, by Grace, and we are endeavoring to teach them a rigorous Biblical worldview, to be wise Scripturally speaking and not fooled by the NewSpeak of this PC mess in which we are forced to swim.

We're redoubling our efforts as you've suggested. Building a small solar electric system, making sure the God, Guns, Groceries, Gasoline are in order along with somewhat likeminded neighbors & local church are included, as well.

As you stated, we fondly hope this is overblown preparation. But I suspect not: these are some serious difficulties we face as a nation.

As you & other posters have suggested, it's past time for Americans to find Godly courage & character, to the point that many won't know they lack it, until times are hitting the danger zone.

We truly do stand by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, alone. He is truly ruler of the Nations, "ruler of the Kings of the earth" as Revelation declares. Our nation & many others, have thumbed thier noses at Him for a long season. I suspect that our situation is a bit like outlined in Malachi where the LORD takes note of those who trust in Him & writes their names in a 'book of remembrance'.

I'd encourage you all to look that passage up and see how it applies, in 'crisis time' to those who truly do 'Fear the LORD' and want to see Righteousness prevail: "...for [we] shall be filled."

Again, thanks for the great commentary and a cyberhome to visit that reminds us we're not crazy, after all.

It wasn't my intention to beat ya over the head or anything, but sometimes how I write makes it seem like I'm angry, ill-mannered, or whatever when that's not the case at all.

It's also probably why I don't bother commenting frequently anymore on political blogs. After all, the reality is what it is and we cannot individually do anything to change the course. Besides, all that can be said about the economy, "government thugs," abstractly speaking, has been said by the thinking few of us and there's a lot of repetition no doubt.

However, that said, I like reading Will's posts primarily to glean and grok some of the fine details and minuscule subplots/events that make up part of the big picture.

What's the big picture? Well, the big picture, in my mind, has been for many years that, in short, America is gradually becoming a byword and will be relegated to complete irrelevance on the world stage. It's just that for years and years since I read various eschatological texts in the 1980s that would infer America's irrelevance in the "latter days," long before the internet became a household word and everyday tool, I was always puzzled wondering HOW exactly it would eventually become irrelevant. Needless to say, the HOW is becoming ever more clearer everyday.

Beyond that, I'd say complete government control is inevitable for most Americans as well as most of the rest of the hapless masses of the world. And in it all, the commoners themselves have been, are now, or soon will be, however unknowingly or ignorantly, gleefully greasing the skids to launch and propel the growth of government and its total control over everyone.

Here's probably where I digress somewhat from how Will (and most here) sees these many issues we face. Where Will focuses in with the scope and sees a "thuggish, corrupt government agent/bureaucrat/politician" coming around every corner, I rather stand back and from afar see, not only the problem (corrupt thuggish government agent), but also the source of the problem: a regular red/blue/magenta commoner who votes for ( in the case of politicians), supports, and naturally even provides (all culled from someone's neighborhood) the personage of said thuggish, corrupt government agent/bureaucrat/politician.

IOW, the thuggish, corrupt government agents/bureaucrats/politicians we are all increasingly graced with represent a coarse reflection of us. Again, the big picture.

So, I read Will to get some of the mundane details about the myriad events occurring, many of which were otherwise unknown to me, but rather than it radically changing my big picture view in any meaningful way, it reinforces and supports it more than not.

Sigh, I still seem to manage every now and again to write a long, meandering comment...argh.

Can fascism save our way of life? Since privacy is a thing of the past I'm sure the serfs won't mind this round of friendly fascism. It will be like importing bookmarks from one browser to another but sadly some eggs will have to be broken.

Probably the same thing that we should make of Hitler having been born a Catholic. (He later used the Church he was baptized in for artillery practice.)

What should we make of that? We should understand that fallen-away Catholics, apostates from the faith, are the most warped, dangerous individuals who ever walked the earth, because they had the Truth, but wilfully rejected it.

I rather stand back and from afar see, not only the problem (corrupt thuggish government agent), but also the source of the problem: a regular red/blue/magenta commoner who votes for ( in the case of politicians), supports, and naturally even provides (all culled from someone's neighborhood) the personage of said thuggish, corrupt government agent/bureaucrat/politician

IOW, the thuggish, corrupt government agents/bureaucrats/politicians we are all increasingly graced with represent a coarse reflection of us. Again, the big picture.

Great point.

I see in your observation the recognition that there is some truth behind the adage: "We have met the enemy and he is US !"

This is so true. Most of us Americans talk of how we hate big, intrustive government - yet we get more & more all the time.

I highly suspect we don't know how it is hypocritical to say this, and then out of the other side of our mouths we send our kids to school on the neighbors dime, via property taxes, get a government bennie, however innocent seeming (WIC, SSI Disability, Welfare, etc), that must be paid for by our more productive neighbors with a threat of violence, state sponsored if they balk at paying.

In short, we have, rationalized covetousness, and ignored the demands of Righteousness. And, sadly (athiests can cheeer here:), the most overtly religious amongst us are freqently the worst offenders.

I'm guessing that we think our vigorous service to the LORD, measured by outward means, frequent church attendance, generous giving are performed and the 'more weighty' demands of the Law, righteousness, holiness and purity are thus ignored.

The real missing ingredient seems to be a willingness to apply the demands of the Law, that we put upon blatant sinners, upon ourselves first. For example:

Instead of dissing same sex marriage supporters as a primary activity, how many Christian men amongst us make sure their heterosexual marriages are loving to their wives & children & glorifying to Christ ?

Wouldn't that be a far more effective way of demonstrating the futility of the Sodomite addiction, by showcasing our satisfaction with the circumstances God, in His Providence, has placed us in ?

My point here isn't to discuss strategy on how we effectively defeat Cultural evil.

My point is to say that the best anti-dote for tyranny on any scale (small scale - Sodomy, or large scale - state tyranny), is for us to renounce our addiction to sin & selfishness, and return to the "Principles of Self & Civil Government" (to coin the Founding Fathers). In my study of History, I've come to the conclusion that this is the only firm foundation for our Republic.

Self-Government, under God, is another term for Self-Control, is what our nation struggles over; and as Scripture points out "the fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control".

Re-establish that, and we'll have a peaceful, productive 2nd American Revolution !

I'd like to buttress Dixie Dog's comments concerning the Power Elites' primary means of achieving world gov't ends: Regionalism. Regionalism brought on via economic and political "crises".

A year ago, I listed in Will Grigg's comment section the ten regional blocs which are currently in the incubation stage with the notable exception of 1)the Russian Union (CIS-1991), 2)the European Union (1993) and 3)the African Union (2002). Here are the names of the seven other developing political-economic blocs:4)East Asian Union: Asia Times "Thinking the Unthinkable, A Confucian Union" 4/7/2005 Excerpt: "By about 2020, the East Asian Union will be the world's most powerful bloc,.."5)South Asian Union: India Daily "South Asian Union - A Growing Reality That Can Change The World" 2/12/2005 Excerpt: "All of us in South Asia are aware that the idea of a South Asian Union in the realm of economic integration is one whose time has come."6)Central Asian Union: Kazinform News "Kurultai Participants Back Kazakh President's Idea To Create The Central Asian Union" 9/20/20067)South American Union: FOX News "South American Leaders Discuss Creating Continental Union" 12/10/20068)North American Union: Council On Foreign Relations "Building A North American Community" 175 pages 5/2005 The Fraser Institute "The Case For The Amero: The Economics And Politics Of A North American Union" 19999)Middle East Union: Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) "White House Press Release: Office Of The Press Secretary" 6/9/200410)Asian Pacific Union: Sydney Morning Herald "Push For Union With New Zealand" 12/6/2006

Daniel 7:23-24

"Thus he said:'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be DIFFERENT from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the WHOLE earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the TEN horns, out of this kingdom TEN kings will arise; and another [the antichrist] will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings [three of the ten horns/kings].'" NASB

Revelation 17:12-13

"And the TEN horns which you saw are TEN kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast [the antichrist] for one hour. These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast." NASB

I want to give the Christians and other believing types on here a thought for the day: In Genesis, God said, "Let us create Man in Our own image."

Meaning, God in His wisdom gave Man free will, to do good or to do evil, as Man chooses. (And this is why there is evil in this world. It MUST be - read on.) Why?

Because, if Man chooses good over evil of his own free will, God is pleased and Man is rewarded.

If Man is FORCED to choose good, because if he does not the State will punish him, then the fact that Man chooses good is just plain common sense and no sign of having understood the REASONS for choosing good over evil. There is no benefit to forced choice. Why should God be pleased or reward us for doing good if that is the only choice we are offered?

This is the reason why coercing other people to follow Jesus and his teachings does neither them nor us any good at all. They MUST make that choice for themselves. The Muslims too make this mistake, and try to force people to follow Islam. A forced Muslim is no Muslim at all. And a forced Christian is no Christian at all.

The best way to change people's minds is by example, not by coercion. The way Christianity took hold and spread in its early days was by the heathen seeing the example of the Christian martyrs, how they went to their deaths with joyous faith. Onllokers were astonished that they remained so calm and happy, and their example made more converts than any amount of preaching would have done.

This is the principal reason why it is good for the Church that there is separation of Church and State. You start passing laws about religion, you then take away free will, and you kill religion dead on the spot, and take away God's opportunity to shower His grace and blessings on His children.

Let us leave the State out of it, and set an example in our own lives. Jesus said. "My kingdom is not of this world." Exactly - His kingdom is in the hearts of His followers. That is where it should stay.

The synthesis, the third way is almost complete. A melding of communism and capitalism. We saved Russia's bacon in WWII for this reason. Why were ships laden with gold going to Murmansk? The best Russian generals were generals mud and winter. They would have fell to Jerry the Germinal if not for the jeeps, tanks, planes, supplies we were shipping to them.

"In the event of a 'bank holiday,' you won't be permitted to withdraw cash, and it's likely that debit cards wouldn't work." -- Will Grigg

There's an important distinction here which might be pertinent. Debit cards (and checks) simply move money from one account to another. But the banking system as a whole doesn't lose any deposits. Indeed, if Usgov starts buying shares in banks, it may end up being all the same bank, or just a handful of banks as in Canada.

BUT, converting deposits to cash takes reserves out the banking system. Because banks have leveraged their deposits (via the so-called money multiplier), each $1,000 withdrawn in cash and not redeposited may force the banking system to shed up to $10,000 in assets (meaning loans and securities).

So from a banking perspective, limiting cash withdrawals is much more urgent than interfering with the use of debit cards and checks. In fact, if one wanted to minimize the disruption to the economy connected with a bank holiday, sheeple would be told to use debit cards for every purchase, instead of unavailable cash. This would achieve a long-standing government objective of shifting to a transparent, cash-free, all-electronic economy in which total monitoring and profiling of each sheeple-depositor can be implemented.

One thing I'm going to check with my Argentine friends is whether their equivalent of our ACH (Automated Clearing House for electronic transfers) was shut down during the 2001-2002 crisis. It may have kept functioning. The banksters' priority (there and here) is to KEEP DEPOSITS WITHIN THE SYSTEM, not letting them leak out as cash, which forces pathological deleveraging upon the system.